CliqueClack TV » 30 Rock

30 Rock – Green week: intrusive, hilarious

Bob Degon — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:00:26 +0000

Shows must hate being on NBC. It’s not enough that nobody actually watches the shows on NBC, but then the bigwigs force their programs into these silly theme weeks. A month ago, all their shows were about volunteering, and this week they featured stories about going green. Certainly these are altruistic causes, and they don’t bother me as much as they surely bother others, but I mostly feel bad for the writers who have to work these stories into their shows.

At least 30 Rock does an excellent job working the stories in. I think they are the best show on television when it comes to integrating product placement. This is mostly because the writers are not afraid to make fun of it. I’m reminded of an episodes a few years back where there was a blatant placement for a telephone company, followed by Liz looking straight into the camera and saying: “Can we please have our money now?” right before a cut to commercial. This episode featured a similar moment, where Liz makes fun of the green peacock in the corner of the screen and Kenneth looks down at it.

Overall, I thought this was one of the stronger episodes of the season. There were so many quotable lines, I had trouble keeping up (and I know I missed a few below). All of the characters really shined this week. The flashbacks of Jenna as Liz’s roommate were classic. Tracy and Jack going for vasectomies was funny. Any excuse to bring Tracy Jr. or Dr. Spaceman on the show is okay in my book. Kenneth acting as the “green police” worked really well. Of course, Liz resorting to trying to “Jack, Jenna, and Tracy” her new roommate out of their place was excellent. It only added to the comedy that in order to actually get him out, she had to “Frank” him out.

A selection of my favorite quotes:

“Do you know why my place is so big? When I was first married to my ex-wife we were in the basement. Over the years I kept buying the floors above me to make room for the family that I thought we’d have. Well now I have something better than a family: a walk in humidor, a lap pool, and a replica of the Irish Pub where my grandmother was born.” – Jack, on his apartment

“Some of them are sun tea, and… some of them were sun tea.” – Frank, on the jars in his office

“Brian sucks, he doesn’t have a TV and he wears political tee shirts.” – Liz on her new roommate

“Don’t worry, Jack, our topical cold open is about Omorosa borrowing Bjork’s swan dress.” – Liz

“Kenneth, I once took a low volume shower with Ed Begley Jr., what more can I do?” – Jenna, on going green

“Don’t talk to me like that. You look like a turtle who lost its shell.” – Liz, to Kenneth

“There’s an old African proverb, that I made up: if you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together. We have to go far. Quickly.” – Former Vice President Al Gore

Did you love this episode too?

Photo Credit: NBC

Is sitcom quality limited by a finite amount of available humor?

Aryeh S. — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:30:59 +0000

Or, put another way, is there only so much funny out there in TV land that if another success story shows up, or something already on the air gets better, everything else is destined to get worse?

Maybe it’s that as individual viewers we’re only allotted so much laughing in a week. I don’t know which is the case … all I know is that, week in and week out, some of my favorite sitcoms are consistently falling flat.

Let’s look at my network comedy viewings for the week. On Sundays, I tee things off with The Simpsons and Family Guy, but they’re both more shows to watch while doing something else. I’ve been catching The Simpsons for years now, but I think it’s loyalty more than enjoyment that keeps me coming back. Plus it’s not offensive, so nothing’s really pushing me to cancel that season pass (although it was borderline distasteful how bad the movie was). And Family Guy? I like Stewie and the evil monkey.

Mondays we move on to How I Met Your Mother. Now, I’m a believer in Barney and Robin as a couple, but, eerily coincidentally, ever since they got together at the beginning of this season, I’ve barely found anything to laugh at on what was once one of my favorite shows. Maybe it’s the new jiggering of things that was required to have them dating, but episode after episode has just gotten worse for me, culminating in an abomination last week with Barney in a fat suit. Debbie and I are definitely watching different shows.

But jump ahead to Wednesday night. Where did The Middle come from? And Modern Family’s not too bad itself. Strong concepts, talented casts, and writers who know how to craft a joke, or a funny situation. I know that others have found the same to applaud on Cougar Town, but I think I actually liked Hank better (and I definitely preferred Joey), so that should give you a pretty good picture of where that one resides for me.

And then on Thursday, while The Office is struggling for me, 30 Rock is showing some strength, with the right mix of characters balancing out the weaker, now less prevalent ones. Which, to me, is like Thursday went and sat itself down on its head. What planet am I on?

(Oh, and nothing to do with nothing, but I’ve caught a few of this season’s episodes of Parks and Recreation and Community on Hulu, and I’m still waiting for something to make me crack a smile.)

But back to my point — it could also be that the balance isn’t being helped any by the fact that shows like Castle and NCIS, to name but two, are funny as well, thus further diluting the week’s quota of ha ha. Or maybe it’s just some unseen-by-us-viewers seesaw that’s being ridden by the stars of two shows, like Patricia Heaton on one end and Neil Patrick Harris on the other; we don’t know about it, but when Heaton’s the heavy, Harris is flailing in the air (come to think of it, he was mostly MIA during the Everybody Loves Raymond years … something to that theory, maybe?).

Or this could all be due to any number of other factors or theories. The moral of the story, however, is that they all lead back to the same conclusion: I’m just not laughing with my television like I once did. Anybody else out there feeling the same?

Photo Credit: CBS

Ratings Clack – Should FOX switch Fringe and Lie To Me?

Brett Love — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:23 +0000

After the dramatic entrance of V last week, there were no similar big splash stories to lead things off this week. Then, as I was perusing the year-ago numbers, something occurred to me. It’s quite possible that FOX could improve both Monday and Thursday at 9:00 if they swapped Fringe and Lie To Me. If you look back to the initial Fringe run, it had a lot of success following House. In fact, while the House numbers are virtually unchanged from Tuesday to Monday, Fringe was holding much more of the House audience on Tuesday than Lie To Me currently is on Monday.

Example:
11/18/08: House (13.03m/5.5), Fringe (9.36m/4.2)
11/09/09: House (13.31m/5.3), Lie To Me (7.41m/3)

And that was against very similar competition. Both faced DWTS on ABC, which was pretty much a wash. NBC was greatly improved against Fringe with Biggest Loser (7.84m/3.3), as opposed to Trauma (5.35m/1.8). And CBS was mixed, with The Mentalist (15.83m/3.5) trailing the Men/Big Bang hour (13.62m/4.6) in the demo.

Now we look at where we are this season. Fringe did manage something of a rebound this week, finishing with (5.91m/2.2) on Thursday. That’s still a distant fourth place, and should find the show on the hot seat at the end of the season. It would, obviously, do better on Monday following House. The question is, would it do better than the (7.41m/3) that Lie To Me is currently offering? I think it would.

On the other side of that coin, while I’m not quite as confident about the move of Lie To Me to Thursday, I do still see the potential for it to outperform the current Fringe numbers. That bar has been set, after all, rather low. It would likely take a hit in the move, but the end result would be that Thursday at 9:00 is stronger as well. Just something to think about. The usual numbers junk is after the jump.

ABC - The bubble burst on V (10.7m/3.8) rather quickly. Sure, that’s still a very nice number, but it’s also a heck of a one week drop. Consider the jury still out on this one until we see what episodes three and four bring to the table. Earlier in the week, the return of football on NBC brought Sunday’s Extreme Makeover (10.38m/3), Desperate Housewives (13.79m/4.4), and Brothers & Sisters (9.08m/2.9) down a tad. It was still a successful start to the week.

The good news continued as Dancing With The Stars (17.62m/3.4) and Castle (9.82m/2.4) both gained viewers. The DWTS Results (16.23m/3.5) were up as well, despite the V drop. The news wasn’t so good for The Forgotten, as In The Spotlight with Robin Roberts (9.34m/2.3) finished well above what the show has been doing. Wednesday, the CMA Awards (17.18m/5.3) were a huge improvement over the usual comedies and Eastwick. FlashForward (8.28m/2.6) sunk to third in both measures to kick off Thursday, while Grey’s Anatomy (14.87m/5.6) and Private Practice (10.25m/3.9) were both up. Ugly Betty (4.45m/1.3) finished things off on Friday.

FOX - The network didn’t really gain anything with the all-Seth night, featuring Family Guy (7.26m/3.7), Seth & Alex (6.73m/3.4), Family Guy (7.99m/4.1), and Cleveland (6.44m/3.2). The news was better on Monday as House (13.31m/5.3) remained the clear demo leader on the night. So You Think You Can Dance remained steady, if not impressive, on Tuesday (5.76m/2.3) and Wednesday (5.72m/2.2), while Glee (7.53m/3.4) was tied for #1 in the demo with Criminal Minds. Thursday, Bones (10.22m/2.9) took over the #2 spot from FlashForward. And Friday, repeats again topped the recent comedy/Dollhouse combo.

CBS - The good news is that Sunday was up across the board with Amazing Race (11.62m/3.5), Three Rivers (7.99m/1.8), and Cold Case (8.16m/1.7). The bad news is that those numbers from 9:00 to 11:00 are too low. Things were better on Monday. The network was down slightly from 8:00 to 9:00 with How I Met Your Mother (8.67m/3.5) and Accidentally On Purpose (7.89m/2.9). Then, up with 2 ½ Men (14.44m/4.6) and Big Bang Theory (12.8m/4.7). At 10:00 is where the real magic started.

The big crossover CSI event led to gains for Miami (14.38m/4), NY (14.51m/3.8), and the OG CSI (17.38m/4.1). He didn’t get to be part of the big event, but Gibbs and the crew at NCIS (20.96m/4.4) easily returned to the top of the Tuesday pyramid. That was good news for NCIS: LA (16.23m/3.7) and The Good Wife (13.35m/2.8) as well. Old Christine (7.19m/2.1) and Gary Unmarried (7.3m/2.4) were both up on Wednesday, despite that CMA increase at ABC. Criminal Minds (12.77m/3.4) was solid. Although, that demo battle with Glee could prove very interesting.

Thursday, as with CSI, Survivor (12.94m/4) was up too. The Mentalist (16.17m/3.6) was off a bit in viewers, but is still having a very good second season. And Friday was another easy win for the night by Ghost Whisperer (8.01m/2), Medium (8.16m/1.9), and Numb3rs (8.16m/1.8).

NBC – The return of Sunday Night Football (21.88m/8.5) was certainly welcome. Hopefully, it softened the blow of another series low for Heroes (5.26m/2.3), and the further struggles of Trauma (5.35m/1.8). The Biggest Loser (9.65m/3.8) remains a success on Tuesday. Mercy (6.68m/1.7), on the other hand, can only claim that it is an improvement over the Knight Rider numbers. L&O: SVU (8.77m/2.8) remains a mystery. That was good for fourth place, again, but it is headed in the right direction. And that 2.8 demo is starting to look really good given the rest of the NBC schedule.

Thursday was more of the same as Community (5.09m/2.1) and Parks & Recreation (4.58m/2.1) again fell short of the Kath & Kim bar (11/06: 5.57m/2.4). By comparison, things look pretty good for The Office (8.05m/4.2) and 30 Rock (6m/3). Law & Order (7.5m/1.7) finished things up on Friday.

CW - The week got off to a very good start as One Tree Hill (2.67m/1.3), Gossip Girl (2.37m/1.3), and 90210 (2.06m/1.2) all saw gains. That was the highest rated Gossip Girl since the season premiere. Things didn’t go so well for Melrose Place (1.28m/.7). It would seem that the network is just waiting to see what difference Heather Locklear makes before pulling the plug.

Next Top Model (3.2m/1.5) was again nipping at NBC’s heels in the demo on Wednesday. As was Vampire Diaries (4.1m/1.9) on Thursday. Supernatural (2.69m/1.3) was on par as well. Finally, Smallville (2.7m/1.2) continued to defy the odds on Friday, drawing more viewers than OTH, GG, 90210, Melrose, and Supernatural.

Cable - It’s probably way too early for the folks down at Stargate HQ to be getting nervous, but concern might be in order. Friday 11/06 found the Universe dropping again, to (1.63m/.7). That didn’t do any favors for Sanctuary (1.42m/.5). It will be very interesting to see where the show levels out. Over at USA, White Collar (3.85m/.9) continues to search for a level as well. Other cable numbers to consider:

Mad Men (2.32m/.8)
Dexter (1.76m/.9)
Lincoln Heights (1.03m/.4)
Sons Of Anarchy (3.83m/1.9)
Nip/Tuck (1.75m/.9)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (.98m/.3)
Bored To Death (.63m/.3)
Californication (.76m/.4)
Rita Rocks (.48m/.2)
South Park (2.78m/1.5)
Secret Girlfriend (1.19m/.6)
It’s Always Sunny (1.87m/1.2)
The League (1.03m/.6)
Monday Night Football (16m/6.5)
The Hills (2.1m/1.3)
Top Chef (3.02m/1.7)
Mythbusters (2.13m/.9)
Ghost Hunters (2.91m/1.4)
Ghost Hunters Academy (2.07m/.9)
Project Runway (3.13m/1.4)
Keeping Up With The Kardashians (3.17m/1.7)

Photo Credit: FOX

Quotation Marks – Canadians, vegans, vampires, and Gordon Stoltski

Aryeh S. — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:37:25 +0000

I’ll take “people we got an earful from this week” for two hundred!

I was going back and forth through the quotes submitted by our writers this week, and I couldn’t quite understand why the haul seemed so light. Then it dawned on me: ABC didn’t air its new Wednesday night comedy lineup this week. Can you believe how quickly those three shows (sorry Hank!) have entered our pop-culture? Yowza.

30 Rock

“Alright hosers: I want all 12 of us fighting for every meter on all three downs. And we’re gonna make this a Boxing Day the Prime Minister will never forget.” – Danny, in his Canadian football movie

“I feel about as useless as a mom’s college degree.” – Kenneth, on his problem with Danny

“Do I look okay?” – Liz
“That’s exactly how you look.” – Cerie

“The future is like a Japanese game show; you have no idea what’s going on.” – Tracy

“Cause after all, what’s a problem but an opportunity disguised as a stripper having a seizure on your boat?” – Tracy, during his and Jenna’s closing ad for “Problem Solvers”

The Big Bang Theory

“‘Sorry’ doesn’t make up for the fact that I had to make chicken and rice with this vegan guy! Do you know what vegan chicken and rice is? Rice!” – Raj

How I Met Your Mother

“It was called the Death Star, baby — they knew what they were getting into.” – Marshall to Lily when she realizes that Storm Troopers are people, not robots

Bones

“I just need you to help me fire my gun.” – Booth
“That sounds desperately phallic.” – Gordon Gordon Wyatt

“I’m fairly certain that Iron Leprechaun is not his actual name, but his wrestling moniker.” – Bones

Criminal Minds

“Password was Cullen.” – Garcia
“Of course.” – JJ
“Colon?” – Reid
“Cullen. The vampire family from Twilight?” – JJ
“What’s Twilight?” – Reid
“Do you ever read anything other than technical books?” – JJ
“Not much in English.” – Reid

Curb Your Enthusiasm

“I’m Larry David. I happen to enjoy wearing women’s panties.”

House

“You don’t ask what I want, you ignore my wishes, and you drug me….” – Wilson
“I’m waiting for you to name something new to our relationship.” – House

The Office

“Monkey see, monkey do … monkey pee all over you.” – Michael

Saturday Night Live

“This year’s Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree is a 76-foot-tall Norway Spruce from Easton, Connecticut. So come on down to Rockefeller Center and watch a tree slowly die.” – Weekend Update

South Park

“Then how come Gordon Stoltski got to go on for like five minutes that one day?” – Cartman
“Well, because he was being murdered.” – Mr. Mackey

Supernatural

“Ya, how original. Supernatural bringing in more creepy children. Sigh!” – German Supernatural LARP’er

Photo Credit: NBC

“Making a new friend sure ‘ain’t easy” on 30 Rock

Aryeh S. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:00:57 +0000

Considering how I once felt about both of them, it’s surprising that I actually am enjoying the team of Tracy and Jenna. Actually, considering how Jenna once felt about Tracy, it’s surprising that they’re enjoying one another. But I suppose you do what you must when faced with a common enemy: a new star on your show.

This is actually a very clever idea that 30 Rock is employing. As it’s appeared to me up to this point, the show is adding a cast member by utilizing the need fictional “TGS with Tracy Jordan” has for a new cast member. I don’t know if cast expansion has ever been more natural — well, in a general sense. But adding a street-performing robot?

The one current plot area that I’ve never been on board with is this whole “Dealbreaker” thing, which I found stupid from the first time that Liz gave advice on that talk show. It just wasn’t funny, and I didn’t really enjoy who she was pretending to be when dispensing her “sage wisdom.” Unfortunately it seems to have stuck, but at least there’s always plenty of Jack and Kenneth to keep me smiling.

What’s going on with TGS itself? Am I wrong, or has the show that brings all of these characters together not put on an episode in a while? We used to see skits being rehearsed, props, sets, writing, whatever. Now, save for some line readings (which was more about practicing dropping a Canadian accent), there isn’t much left to the sketch show. Did they just get so consumed with everything else that they’ve run out of time?

Lots of good stuff tonight:

The Chinese knockoff of Liz’s book: “dealbreaker; the book for you man no good” by lesbian yellow sour fruit
Kenneth’s welcome song, as quoted in this post’s title
Jack renaming new actor Jack “Danny” (Cheyenne Jackson)
Jack moving the candle over at dinner with Liz (and then Liz setting herself on fire at dinner with her agent)
Tracy’s contractually obligated plugs for “Wade Boggs’ Carpet World”
Not good as much as puzzling: Jack uses a Mac? No way.
Danny offering to get Kenneth something to eat, and Kenneth malfunctioning. It went a little too far for me in the end, with Kenneth’s evil eyes, but it was still pretty funny. Kenneth’s entire world was crumbling before he reversed things.

And the quotes were a-flowing:

“He looks like all the guy’s in my magazines.” – The Janitor, on Danny

“I feel about as useless as a mom’s college degree.” – Kenneth, on his problem with Danny

“Do I look okay?” – Liz
“That’s exactly how you look.” – Cerie

“The future is like a Japanese game show; you have no idea what’s going on.” – Tracy

“‘Cause after all, what’s a problem but an opportunity disguised as a stripper having a seizure on your boat?” – Tracy, during his and Jenna’s closing advertisement for “Problem Solvers”

Photo Credit: NBC

Ratings Clack – V gets off to a great start

Brett Love — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:30:08 +0000

The World Series was the big ratings winner last week, but with New York involved, everyone kind of expected that, right? What nobody expected — most notably ABC — was the success of the V premiere. The numbers weren’t just good. It was the highest rated scripted program on the network, topping the Housewives and Grey’s. Even better, the V demo rating was the highest for a scripted show on any of the networks. Someone at ABC has to be kicking themselves for only ordering four episodes of V, while they continue to crank out more Hanks than they know what to do with.

ABC – It was the big show for the week, so we’ll start with the V (14.3m/5.2) premiere on Tuesday. Even more impressive, it did that against Biggest Loser and NCIS. Not an easy timeslot. That was obviously unexpected, or production wouldn’t have been cut to 4, for now. It makes the results of episode two very interesting. How much of that audience will be back for more? That huge leap in the 8 o’clock hour didn’t do anything for the rest of the night. The Dancing With The Stars results show (15.05m/3.1) was up just a tenth in the demo, and The Forgotten (7.27m/1.9) actually managed to lose a million viewers week-to-week.

Earlier in the week, things were pretty standard on Sunday with Extreme Makeover (10.75m/3.3), Desperate Housewives (14.08m/5), and Brothers & Sisters (9.02m/3.3). Monday, Dancing With The Stars (16.69m/3.4) and Castle (9.43m/2.4) were both off just a bit, but we’ll chalk that up to baseball. Wednesday remains a mixed bag as Hank (5.09m/1.3), The Middle (6.04m/1.8), and Eastwick (4.44m/1.5) all continue to struggle. Modern Family (8.77m/3.5) and Cougar Town (6.87m/2.8) do like solid performers, however.

FlashForward (8.57m/2.6) makes Thursday interesting. It continues to drop, and you have to wonder if the audience is just giving up on it already. It long ago lost track of Survivor, and this week was also topped by Bones. Grey’s Anatomy (13.95m/5.1) and Private Practice (9.11m/3.4) remain a successful pairing. Friday, Ugly Betty (4.76m/1.3) remained steady, but the big surprise was from the Rihana episode of 20/20 (8.18m/2.7).

CBS - It was, for the most part, another very solid week. Sunday was steady, with Amazing Race (11.22m/3.3), Three Rivers (7.7m/1.6), and Cold Case (9.02m/1.7). Of course, that steady means that Three Rivers remains a disappointment and its future prospects are not good. Monday was also solid with How I Met Your Mother (8.82m/3.5), Accidentally On Purpose (8.09m/3.1), 2 ½ Men (13.51m/4.4), Big Bang Theory (12.73m/4.7), and CSI: Miami (12.52m/3.6). Those numbers are off a bit, but we’ll give them a World Series pass as well.

Tuesday, that giant V premiere didn’t do much to slow down the NCIS (20.18m/4.3) juggernaut. NCIS:LA (15.29m/3.6) and The Good Wife (12.74m/2.7) were also on par. Wednesday brought a slightly baseball-weakened combination of Old Christine (6.68m/2), Gary Unmarried (6.29m/2), Criminal Minds (12.55m/3.4), and CSI:NY (12m/2.8).

Thursday, Survivor (12.44m/3.7) is again firmly in control of the hour. More interesting, The Mentalist (16.21m/3.6) topped CSI (15.6m/3.5) in both measures again. The troubling bit came on Friday, as Ghost Whisperer (7.93m/1.8) and Medium (7.58m/1.8) both lost to Law & Order, while Numb3rs (8.09m/1.8) was beaten by 20/20. I can’t remember the last time CBS was beaten in all three Friday hours while running all new episodes.

FOX - The World Series was the story last week. Games on Sunday (22.76m/7.8), Monday (17.09m/5.3), and Wednesday (22.34m/7.4) all did extremely well. So You Think You Can Dance (6.12m/2.4) held down the fort on Tuesday, and Bones (8.66m/2.6) and Fringe (4.86m/1.7) were back on Thursday. Bones moved to #2 in the hour, while Fringe remains a distant fourth.

The quick reaction is to blame the time slot, but compare it to what So You Think You Can Dance is up against on Tuesday at 8. ABC gains 5.73m/2.6. NBC gains 3.93m/2. CBS gains 7.74m/.6. That’s 17.3 million more viewers, and 5.2 more demo points facing SYTYCD, and it still outperformed Fringe. There is also the argument that because World Series Game 7 was scheduled Thursday, people didn’t know it was on. Unfortunately, that doesn’t explain the fact that Bones still managed 8.6 million viewers, or all those other weeks of subpar Fringe numbers. And in case you were wondering, House and Bones repeats on Friday again topped the Brothers, Til Death, and Dollhouse numbers.

NBC - With no football in prime time this week, the big success actually came on Friday. Law & Order is finally showing a little life, with episodes at 8 (7.99m/1.8) and 9 (8.41m/1.9) both winning their hours. Earlier in the week, it was more of the same on Monday from Heroes (5.86m/2.5) and Trauma (5.82m/1.9). The Biggest Loser (9.11m/3.5) remains a solid hit on Tuesday. Wednesday, Mercy (6.63m/1.7) and SVU (7.95m/2.4) were off, but it was the final game of the World Series, so let’s wait and see.

Thursday, Community (5.45m/2.3) and Parks & Recreation (4.91m/2.2) were both up. However, they do both remain below what Kath & Kim (5.57m/2.4) were doing at this time last year. The Office (8.09m/4.1) and 30 Rock (6.15m/3) continue along the same path. Leno had another rough week, falling below 4 million viewers once, and below 1.5 in the demo three times. I’m starting to think that Leno one night a week might not be a bad idea. Give him the post Biggest Loser slot, and return scripted to the other four hours. The numbers:

Monday: 3.92m/1.2
Tuesday: 5.96m/2
Wednesday: 4.81m/1.4
Thursday: 4.83m/1.6
Friday: 4.6m/1.2

CW - Nothing too exciting to report this week. One Tree Hill (2.32m/1.1) and Gossip Girl (1.98m/1) look to have taken a small hit from baseball. 90210 (1.92m/1) and Melrose Place (1.48m/.8) continue to struggle as we all wait to see what Heather Locklear will do to the Melrose numbers. Next Top Model (3.87m/1.7) was up, despite baseball. Thursday remains the strongest night of the week with Vampire Diaries (4.09m/1.9) and Supernatural (2.65m/1.2). And Smallville (2.76m/1.2) continues to grow.

CABLE - Not a lot to yell about on cable this week either. It is worth noting that the second episode of White Collar (5.075m/1.2), from 10/30, held up very well. It looks like USA has found a few more characters. Stargate Universe (1.97m/.8), from the same night, found itself falling below the 2 million viewer mark. Sanctuary (1.6m/.5) and Monk (4.69m/1) were fairly steady. Some other numbers:

Mad Men (1.78m/.7)
Dexter (1.88m/.9)
Lincoln Heights (1.11m/.3)
Greek (.66m/.3)
Sons Of Anarchy (3.52m/1.8)
Nip/Tuck (2.17m/1.1)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (.98m/.4)
Bored To Death (.72m/.4)
Californication (.82m/.4)
South Park (2.82m/1.5)
It’s Always Sunny (1.99m/1.3)
The League (1.41m/.9)
Monday Night Football (12.37m/5.1)
Kate: Her Story (3.79m/1.7)
The Hills (1.99m/1.2)
Mythbusters (1.82m/.8)
Ghost Hunters (2.73m/1.3)

Photo Credit: ABC

Quotation Marks – Bilarious, bike-curious, and bagpiping

Ivey West — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:35:33 +0000

I have missed the Supernatural boat. Everyone tells me what a great show it is, but I’ve never taken the time. If this week’s lead quote is any indication, I sure am missing out. The week before the start of November Sweeps also brings us some good quotes from Modern Family and Community. Next week, however, I promise the return of Glee!

Supernatural

“You gotta calm down.” — Sam
“Calm down? I’m wearing sunglasses at night!! You know who does that? No talent douche bags! I hate this game! I hate that we’re in a procedural cop show and you want to know to know why … because I hate procedural cop shows! There’s like 300 of them on television and they’re all the freaking same. It’s, ‘Oh, plane crashed here.’ Oh shut up!” — Dean

30 Rock

“You’re setting him up to get it. You don’t think I know that trick. You don’t think I’ve been brought in on a million auditions just to make Kim Catrall seem grounded and human.” — Jenna, on Liz’s plan to get a new cast member hired.

“My mom used to send me articles about how older virgins are considered good luck in Mexico.” — Liz

“I’m not gay. I’m…bilarious!” — Homosexual man waiting on line to see Hugh Jackman

Community

“Listen… Randi can be the name of a guy or a girl. But in this case… it is definitely a girl.” — Troy

“I’m an artist. I write what I feel. And I feel that you suck.” — Vaughn

“TV’s the best dad there is. TV never came home drunk. TV never forgot me at the zoo. TV never abused and insulted me. Unless you count Cop Rock.” — Jeff

“I lived in my car for a stretch in the ’70s. Nothing like bedding on one in the vinyl backseat of a Skylark. Of course we didn’t have the same safety standards back then, so… no condoms. I tell you, before AIDS, sex was like shaking hands.” — Pierce
“Hence AIDS.” — Abed

Parks and Recreation

“Pawnee’s library department is the most diabolical and ruthless bunch of bureaucrats I’ve ever seen. They’re like a biker gang. Only instead of shotguns and crystal meth they use political savvy and shushing.” — Leslie

“It was like doing peyote and sneezing slowly for six hours… that woman really knows her way around a penis.” — Ron on sleeping with his ex-wife Tammi

Vampire Diaries

“I’m worse than shallow — I’m a kiddie pool.” — Caroline

“Unexpected surprise? I think the wrong brother went back to high school.” — Lexi to Damon

“Are you wearing polyester?” — Caroline to Bonnie after she gets zapped by her necklace

Modern Family

“And Mitchell is still upset because Claire quit the team right before some meet.” — Cam
“Some meet? The 13-and-under regional championship. Just the Emerald City at the end of my yellow brick road.” — Mitchell
“Oh, you did it.” — Cam
“What?” — Mitchell
“You made figure skating sound even gayer.” — Cam

“Last year you said basketball was going to be my sport.” — Luke
“Look, I’ve said a lot of things I wish I could take back, but I can’t.” — Phil

“It doesn’t matter to you because you had your own moments…. You had cheerleading and high school plays and making out with the quarterback….” — Mitchell
“Oh come on, you made out with him too.” — Claire

“That wasn’t angry talk?” — Jay
“No, that was happy talk.” — Gloria
“I’m beginning to see why there’s so much conflict on your continent.” — Jay

How I Met Your Mother

“That must be that tantric bagpiping that Sting is into … shut the bagpipes up.” — Ted to Robin, about the noisy “bagpiping” neighbors upstairs

”I’ll wash my manhood when I’m good and ready!” — Marshall

Greek

“I hate crickets. Ever since Pinocchio … they’re too bossy.” — Beaver

“Cappie, who do the Kappa Tau’s hate the most?” — Casey
“Ryan Seacrest. Oh no, no, no, wait, wait; Officer Huck.” — Cappie
“And who do the Omega Kais hate the most?” — Casey
“Liberals?” — Cappie

“We’re in.” — Evan
“Well, we’re in further.” — Beaver
“Do you have any idea what comes out of your mouth?” — Tripp
“No … do you?” — Beaver

“We’re all gonna go to girl jail, like those prison movies my boyfriend watches.” — ZBZer, after the fire

The Office

“I am not robbing the cradle … if anything, I’m robbing the grave.” — Michael, on dating Pam’s mom

South Park

“What would you call a straight man, who doesn’t own a Harley, but likes them and might buy one someday?” — Woman
“You call him bike-curious.” — Cartman

Photo Credit: CW

30 Rock – Crazy auditions lead to an off night

Bob Degon — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:57:38 +0000

I’ve been thrilled with the early returns of the fourth season of 30 Rock. I think for the most part, this season has been stronger than the beginning of last season. I thought this episode, however, wasn’t quite as strong as the previous episodes this year. Yes, it did have an amazing cameo from Brian Williams and featured Tina Fey doing a Christopher Walken impression, but aside from that there just seemed to be something missing.

One of the things that I think has helped the series this year is that they have been able to work all the characters into each episode so far. Last year it seemed like characters would disappear for whole episodes. I like that everyone has played a role in each episode so far. This installment was no different, but there just seemed to be something off. I’m not sure if it was because Jack and Liz were apart more than they were together. They really are the heart and soul of the show and seem to compliment each other a lot when they share a story line.

It could just be that the whole audition story was a little too “industry” for those of us who are not in Hollywood. Sometimes I think that episodes, or sometimes even entire shows (Studio 6o on the Sunset Strip), focus too much on Hollywood itself. Because everyone involved in the production is in the industry, no one can see that it won’t play well with the average viewer. Tonight’s episode of 30 Rock may have been suffering a bit from that, as the whole audition plot seemed to be one huge in joke.

With all that being said, I still think 30 Rock on an off night is better than most sitcoms.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“You’re setting him up to get it. You don’t think I know that trick. You don’t think I’ve been brought in on a million auditions just to make Kim Catrall seem grounded and human.” – Jenna, on Liz’s plan to get a new cast member hired.

“My mom used to send me articles about how older virgins are considered good luck in Mexico.” – Liz

What did you think of tonight’s episode? Am I way off base, or did this seem like the weakest episode of the season?

Photo Credit: NBC

Ratings Clack – The Mentalist knocks off CSI

Brett Love — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:00:29 +0000

A combination of baseball and pre-sweeps repeats made for a bit of an odd week. Repeats don’t mean there aren’t numbers of note however. We had Jay Leno’s first shot against CSI: Miami and NY repeats, and a look at what running repeats on Friday does for FOX. That is, nothing good for Dollhouse season 3. Also interesting this week — The Mentalist finally topped CSI in viewers and the demo, and even a repeat Gibbs appearance is worth 16 million viewers.

FOX - Having the baseball playoffs paid off big for the network when NY joined the party. The three contests last week included ALCS Game 6 (15.48m/5.2) on Sunday, and World Series Game 1 (19.51m/6.3) and Game 2 (18.9m/5.8) on Wednesday and Thursday. Needless to say, those were some serious gains over the usual occupants.

Elsewhere, So You Think You Can Dance (5.85m/2.6) was well off the usual House number in it’s one-time stop on Monday. On a brighter note, with CBS in repeats, it still finished #2 in the hour. Lie To Me (6.33m/2.4) struggled without the House lead in. There were similar numbers for the first SYTYCD competition episode (6.47m/2.5) on Tuesday. The only other number of note came from the House (3.4m/1.1) repeat on Friday, which topped the usual Brothers, Til Death, and Dollhouse combination.

ABC - The week got off to a steady start with Sunday’s Extreme Makeover (10.59m/3), Desperate Housewives (14.18m/4.7), and Brothers & Sisters (9.97m/3.3). On Monday, Dancing With The Stars (17.38m/3.6) was steady in the demo. That’s positive news for Castle (9.99m/2.5), which was up a tenth. There were more gains on Tuesday, as Charlie Brown (8.8m/2.8) easily bested the usual performance of Shark Tank. DWTS (15.2m/3) was down in the demo over the previous week, but The Forgotten (8.26m/2) still managed to grow.

Charlie Brown (6m/2) also proved to be an improvement over Hank on Wednesday. The rest of the night, including The Middle (6.49m/2.2), Modern Family (9.33m/3.7), Cougar Town (7.54m/3.2), and Eastwick (5.02m/1.8), was up as well. Less exciting, FlashForward (8.92m/2.7) managed to find series lows on Thursday. Grey’s Anatomy (13.74m/5.2) was down week-to-week, but still the highest rated scripted program for the night. Private Practice (9.16m/3.6) continues to hold up well. Friday, Ugly Betty (4.5m/1.2) was steady, if not impressive.

CBS - The week started with a reasonably steady full slate on Sunday, featuring Amazing Race (11.22m/3.4), Three Rivers (7.78m/1.7), and Cold Case (9.3m/1.8). Then, there were a whole lot of repeats as the network took Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off. Of note among those was the Monday 9-10 comedy block winning the hour in the demo. Tuesday, NCIS (16.7m/3.3) was the most watched show of the night. And CSI: Miami and NY both won their hours outright.

New programming picked back up Thursday with Survivor (12.19m/3.7), CSI (15.24m/3.4), and The Mentalist (15.53m/3.6). That is of particular note, given that it’s the first time The Mentalist has beaten CSI in viewers and demo this season. Friday was down week-to-week, but the network still won all three hours with Ghost Whisperer (8.28m/2), Medium (7.69m/1.8), and Numb3rs (7.74m/1.8).

NBC – It was, for the most part, a fairly steady week. Sunday Night Football (14.98m/5.9) was off a bit facing baseball, but still a huge winner for the network. Heroes (5.72m/2.5) was right on pace with last week. Oddly enough, Trauma (5.78m/1.9) was actually up for the week in which it was canceled. The Biggest Loser (9.67m/3.7) continued to cruise on Tuesday. And NBC got an animation boost of their own as Monsters vs Aliens (6.24m/2.2) improved on the Mercy demo on Wednesday.

Law & Order SVU (8.24m/2.8) was down in viewers, despite the Criminal Minds repeat. I suppose we can chalk that up to baseball. Thursday, Community (5.32m/2.1) was the only show that was actually up week-to-week. Parks & Recreation (4.8m/2), The Office (8.21m/4.2), and 30 Rock (6.1m/3.1) were all down, but close enough to expected averages. Friday, Law & Order (7m/1.4) continued to struggle.

Leno didn’t have a good week. Before the premiere, one of the network’s talking points was that while the show will get beat by originals, wait until it airs against repeats. We’ve seen what that looks like, and it’s not good news for Jay. Not only is Leno still being beaten by repeats, the numbers are still dropping. This week, Leno against a repeat CSI:Miami finished below Leno against a new CSI:Miami last week. Friday also brought the lowest demo in the series.

Mon – 4.74m/1.3
Tue – 6.06m/1.8
Wed – 5.03m/1.5
Thu – 4.41m/1.5
Fri – 5.14m/1.2

CW - The little network had a very good week. They took Tuesday off, but the other four nights were all up over the previous week. One Tree Hill (2.67m/1.3) and Gossip Girl (2.31m/1.2) took advantage of the missing House and repeat comedies. Next Top Model (3.51m/1.6) actually faced much stiffer competition with World Series Game 1, but looks to have gained some of those displaced SYTYCD viewers. Vampire Diaries (4.18m/2) and Supernatural (2.92m/1.4) were at the highest levels we’ve seen since the premiere. Smallville (2.6m/1.2) wrapped the winning week on Friday.

CABLE – The shine has worn off The Jeff Dunham Show (2.33m/1) rather quickly, as week two had less than half the viewers of week one. The other notable bit from the cable world was the premiere of FX’s new comedy, The League (.99m/.6), which is much better than its ratings might lead you to believe.

From the previous Friday, 10/23, here are a few of the cable numbers:

Stargate: Universe (2.02m/.8)
Sanctuary (1.69m/.5)
Monk (5.42m/1.5)
White Collar (5.4m/1.4)
Wizards of Waverly Place (4.39m/.8)

And from the week just completed:

Mad Men (1.72m/.6)
Dexter (1.68m/.8)
Greek (.77m/.4)
Sons Of Anarchy (3.39m/1.8)
Nip/Tuck (2.2m/1.1)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (1.05m/.4)
Californication (.77m/.4)
Bored To Death (.65m/.3)
South Park (2.57m/1.3)
Secret Girlfriend (1.38m/.7)
It’s Always Sunny (1.35m/.8)
Top Chef (3.04m/1.7)
Project Runway (3.24m/1.4)
The Hills (2.05m/1.2)
Dirty Jobs (2.31m/.9)
Mythbusters (2.56m/1)
Ghost Hunters (3.06m/1.4)

Photo Credit: CBS

Quotation Marks – Batman, Emperor Palpatine, and sexy kittens

Ivey West — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:54:39 +0000

Halloween week on TV always is fun. Costumes, parties, and horror stories, oh my! This week wasn’t all about the Day of the Dead, however. We saw Derek buck the odds (and his boss) and perform a miracle like surgery, NBC cancel my favorite new show of year (Favorite show not named Glee that is), and the folks from Supernatural meet their future counterparts. And its not even November Sweeps yet!!

Community

“Batman.” — Jeff
“Yeah.” — Abed
“Are you staying for the party?” — Jeff
“If I stay, there can be no party. I must be out there in the night, staying vigilant. Wherever a party needs to be saved, I’m there. Wherever there are masks, or there’s tomfoolery and joy, I’m there. But sometimes I’m not, ’cause I’m out in the night, staying vigilant, watching, lurking, running, jumping, hurtling, sleeping. No, I can’t sleep. I don’t sleep. You sleep. I’m awake. I don’t sleep. I don’t blink. Am I a bird? No. I’m a bat. I am Batman … or am I? Yes, I am Batman. Happy Halloween.” — Abed

“Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the dead, is often referred to as Mexican Halloween.” — Annie
“Which is actually quite offensive to people familiar with “Mexican Halloween” as a sexual position.” — Mr. Chang

Greek

“My parents don’t celebrate Thanksgiving; they side with the Native Americans. And the turkey — they’re vegetarians.” — Cappie

“I care about old people … I watch Desperate Housewives.” — Rebecca

The Middle

“And I’m the one who needs testing.” — Brick to Frankie after Sue comes through chasing a tennis ball

“Ketchup packets?” — Mike
“They’re my security condiments; they soothe me.” — Brick

“It was fun. It was a little loud, but I got some reading done.” — Brick to Frankie, on how basketball was

The Office

“I want to sell your blood.” — Creed’s take on Dracula

“I’m not usually the butt of the joke; I’m usually the face of the joke.” — Michael

“I could get a fish for a five-cent worm.” — Michael
“Oh, you’re paying way too much for worms, man. Who’s your worm guy?” — Creed

Parks and Recreation

“Hey slutty teenaged girls dressed as sexy kittens, pump your own stomachs this year!” — Anne

The Vampire Diaries

“OK, Count Deepak.” — Damon to Stefan on his “we’re all our own person” speech to Vicki

“Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead.” — Vicki

Modern Family

“Am I driving him to school or is he riding his burro?” — Jay to Gloria about Manny wearing his poncho to school

“Usually we just gave time outs.” — Claire to Mitchell, when he asked her if she ever banged her kids’ heads against the wall.

Supernatural

“I didn’t know what you were. Have you seen you? You look like …” — Sam
“The old chick from Titanic. I know, shut up.” — Old Dean
“I was going to say Emperor Palpatine.” — Sam

30 Rock

“Hey Tracy, did you hear? Fred Dawkins, the incredibly overweight guy that Pacman was based on died last night.” — Frank
“I will eat a bowl of cherries and some ghost meat in his honor.” — Tracy

“I”m not going to be pushed aside and forgotten, like that time at my sister’s funeral.” — Jenna

“Good God Lemon, your breath. When did you find the time to eat a diaper that you found on the beach?” — Jack to Liz

Dexter

“If my face was all over the media for shooting a cop and a Fed … I’d be digging a fucking hole all the way to China.” — Vince
“…” — Everyone Else
“No one fucking go there.” — Vince

Grey’s Anatomy

“Don’t worry … Being ditched by cancer wife won’t change my mind, you’re still a douche.” — Reed to Karev

“Today, if you become frightened, instead, become inspired.” — Isaac to Derek

Trauma

“You’re giving a naked co-ed a sponge bath in my copter?” — Marisa to Rabbit

Photo Credit: NBC

30 Rock – Lots of chuckles, some great cameos, and the worst Boba Fett ever

Bob Degon — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:38:48 +0000

This Halloween episode of 30 Rock was chock full of goodies. I think one of my favorite parts was the quick flashback we got to see of a previous TGS Halloween party, as shown above. I’m not sure what’s better: Toofer’s Kid n’ Play costume, or poor Lutz as the worst Boba Fett ever. As the craziness at the studio cranked up, the audience was treated to a heavy dose of one of the best parts of 30 Rock: Liz and Jack.

Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin have so much chemistry. They truly work really well together, and the relationship between their two characters is the heart of the show. This episode featured the two traveling to Stone Mountain in search of a new cast member from “the real America.” Jack has been harping on the idea of a “real America” since the beginning of the season, but I think the events at the end of this episode may have finally killed the idea for him. As Liz said, all of America is horrible.

There were a bunch of cameos in this episode, with each one hitting the right note, in my opinion. Betty White is such a legend at this point that just seeing her on screen is good for a laugh. Jimmy Fallon (you know him, he’s Queen Latifah’s friend) also appeared, as did Jeff Dunham. The critics may be hating The Jeff Dunham Show on Comedy Central, but 30 Rock managed to squeeze a couple of laughs out of him.

Clearly, the best part of the episode had to be Jack McBrayer (Kenneth), in drag, as one of the Stone Mountain natives.

Here are some of my favorite quotes of the night:

Frank: Hey Tracy, did you hear? Fred Dawkins, the incredibly overweight guy that Pacman was based on died last night.
Tracy: I will eat a bowl of cherries and some ghost meat in his honor.

“I”m not going to be pushed aside and forgotten, like that time at my sister’s funeral.” – Jenna

“Good God Lemon, your breath. When did you find the time to eat a diaper that you found on the beach?” - Jack to Liz

Photo Credit: NBC

Ratings Clack – Smallville continues to defy the odds

Brett Love — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:00:19 +0000

We do often get caught up in the big numbers from the big networks. It is, after all, hard to overlook the fact that NCIS is still growing its audience in the 7th season. There are still some very interesting stories happening on the little network, CW. When it was announced that Vampire Diaries would be paired with Supernatural, while Smallville was shuffled off to Friday, many people expected that was the end.

The show wouldn’t be able to come back from a year grinding away on Friday nights. After a few weeks looking at the numbers though, that’s not the case at all. Clark and the gang can celebrate good times, despite taking a hit from the move. In fact, this week Smallville topped new episodes of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210, and Melrose Place. It’s far from done. Elsewhere, we had our first sizable crop of repeats this week, which brought some interesting results.

CW – With Smallville getting the lead, we’ll start with CW this week. The week got off to a slow start with One Tree Hill (2.21m/1) and Gossip Girl (1.98m/1.1) both down. Things picked up, if you can call it that, on Tuesday with 90210 (2.25m/1.1) remaining steady and Melrose Place (1.5m/.7) gaining in viewers. Next Top Model (2.99m/1.4) was steady as well. Vampire Diaries (2.27m/.9) and Supernatural (1.83m/.8) were repeats, but it is worth noting given that the Vampire Diaries repeat had more viewers than all of the Monday and Tuesday originals. Smallville (2.52m/1.1) closed out the week with the best performance for a scripted show on the network, and also managed to finish tied for third in the demo on the night.

ABC – It was something of an uneventful week for the network. Sunday’s performance was steady with Extreme Makeover (10.33m/3), Desperate Housewives (13.68m/4.6), and Brothers & Sisters (9.72m/3.2). Likewise, Monday finished very much like the previous week with Dancing With The Stars (16.82m/3.6) and Castle (9.69m/2.4). It is worth noting that the Castle numbers have been good enough that the network has picked up the back 9.

Things started to change on Tuesday, as Shark Tank (5.92m/1.8) and DWTS Results (14.92m/3.4) both saw gains. Unfortunately, that didn’t do anything for The Forgotten (7.3m/1.9), which slipped to the lowest numbers of the season. Those 10PM struggles were repeated on Wednesday, with Eastwick (4.78m/1.6) also finding new lows. That came on the heels of a night of comedy that was down across the board with Hank (5.78m/1.5), The Middle (6.53m/2), Modern Family (8.66m/3.4), and Cougar Town (7.31m/3.1). Things really don’t look good for Hank.

There were more changes on Thursday, although they really weren’t that surprising. FlashForward (9.87m/3.1) gained in viewers while holding steady in the demo. Grey’s Anatomy (15.06m/5.3), on the other hand, posted big week-to-week gains. Of course, that was against a repeat CSI. Surprisingly though, it didn’t translate into gains for Private Practice (9.93m/3.7). The show was down without the crossover element, despite facing a repeat Mentalist. Friday, Supernanny (4.7m/1.1) returned above the year ago premiere, and Ugly Betty (4.55m/1.2) limped to a third place finish in the hour.

CBS - The week started off with shenanigans as the football overrun bumped Cold Case for the night. Amazing Race (10.92m/3.3) and Three Rivers (7.38m/1.9) didn’t see any benefit from that. Monday was mostly par for the course, with one notable exception. Accidentally On Purpose (8.25m/3.3) actually beat How I Met Your Mother (8.07m/3.4) in viewers. Did anyone see that coming? Later, the duo of 2 ½ Men (14.07m/4.8) and Big Bang Theory (13.47m/5.3) continued to dominate the 9PM hour. CSI: Miami (13.16m/3.9) finished the night on a winning note.

Tuesday was up across the board, on the back of NCIS (21.25m/4.7) continuing to impress. That led to good things for NCIS:LA (16.48m/3.9) and The Good Wife (13.26m/2.8). Wednesday remained steady. Old Christine (6.58m/2) and Gary Unmarried (6.76m/2.2) seem to have fought off the ABC comedies, while Criminal Minds (14.27m/3.8) and CSI:NY (13m/3) easily win their hours. Survivor (12.9m/4) was the lone new entry on Thursday, but it is worth noting that The Mentalist (11.79m/2.8) beat CSI (10.14m/2.2) in repeats. Friday was again an easy victory for Ghost Whisperer (8.46m/2.1), Medium (8.43m/2.2), and Numb3rs (8.05m/1.8).

NBC - Overall, it was actually a good week for NBC, relatively speaking. Sunday Night Football (18.17m/7.2) continues to be huge. And Heroes (5.72m/2.5) was actually up. With Mercy (7.18m/1.9) getting a full season, things don’t look good for Trauma (5.46m/1.8). Tuesday, The Biggest Loser (9.82m/3.9) was also up. There were more gains to be had on Wednesday, as L&O: SVU (9.15m/2.8) continued to grow. There is still the very real possibility that it could compete with Criminal Minds in the demo by the end of the season.

Thursday continues to be a mixed bag. Technically, Community (5.04m/1.9) and Parks & Recreation (4.93m/2.1) had the 8PM hour up over last week. But really, if Kath & Kim are looking down at your numbers, that’s really bad. The Office (8.73m/4.4) and 30 Rock (6.84m/3.3) took advantage of the CSI vacation. Friday, Law & Order (7.17m/1.5) continued to struggle, while Dateline (7.91m/1.8) continued to make the case for canceling Southland.

Leno… didn’t have a good week.The numbers continue to shrink, slowly. Two nights below five million, and two below 1.5 in the demo. Most troubling might be the fact that despite nice gains from The Office and 30 Rock on Thursday, and facing a repeat Mentalist, Leno was actually down.

Mon – 4.74m/1.4
Tue – 5.46m/1.8
Wed – 5.14m/1.5
Thu – 4.97m/1.6
Fri – 6.15m/1.4

FOX - The week started off with one of the most interesting repeats of the week. An old Family Guy (8.13m/4.2) was stuffed in with new episodes from The Simpsons (8.69m/4.1), Cleveland (7.62m/3.8), American Dad (6.25m/3.1) but still managed to be the highest rated. Monday, being pushed back by baseball didn’t do any favors for House (11.65m/4.4) and Lie To Me (7.79m/2.9). The news was better from baseball (10.3m/3.4) on Tuesday. Wednesday, So You Think You Can Dance (6.91m/2.6) and Glee (7.15m/3.3) were steady. I’m curious to see what happens as SYTYCD gets into the competition.

Baseball (11.85m/3.7) returned Thursday, offering a boost to the usual numbers. Friday was more of the same. The only semi-surprise was that Til Death (1.97m/.7) managed to fall below 2 million viewers. Yikes. It’s pretty bad when you lose viewers from Brothers (2.35m/.8). Dollhouse (2.15m/.8) slipped again, marking its second worse performance ever.

Cable – Ryan asked for numbers from Stargate: Universe and Sanctuary last week. I don’t usually include them because unless Syfy sees fit to issue a press release over the weekend, the post is up before they come out. So, the next best thing is week old numbers. For the 10/16 broadcasts the numbers were Stargate: Universe (2.1m/.9) and Sanctuary (1.77m/.6). That same night, USA had Monk (3.98m/1) and Psych (3.68m/1.2). The interesting premiere this week was The Jeff Dunham Show (5.34m/2.2). That’s impressive, given the overwhelming hatred of the show from critics. It’s also worth noting that Sons Of Anarchy (3.7m/2) beat both Leno and The Forgotten in the demo. Other interesting cable numbers for the past week:

Monday Night Football (13.47m/5.5)
Hannah Montana (5.72m/1)
Mad Men (1.61m/.5)
Dexter (1.51m/.7)
Californication (.77m/.3)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (1.08m/.5)
Bored To Death (.66m/.3)
Project Runway (3.02m/1.3)
Real Housewives Of Atlanta (2.97m/1.6)
It’s Always Sunny (1.52m/.9)
Lincoln Heights (.92m/.2)
Greek (.68m/.3)
The Hills (1.83m/1.1)
Dirty Jobs (1.86m/.9)
Mythbusters (2.28m/1)
Top Chef (2.86m/1.5)
South Park (2.58m/1.4)
Secret Girlfriend (1.29m/.6)
Nip/Tuck (2.23m/1.2)
Ghost Hunters (3.07m/1.4)

Photo Credit: The CW

Quotation Marks – Ascots, belly buttons, and Crocs

Ivey West — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:40:25 +0000

This week’s column is a tribute to the new sitcoms network television has given us this season. Sure, we’ve still got some hour-longs in there (because you know I’m not going to let one of these posts go up with out some Glee love), but we’re mainly highlighting the the half hour comedies this time around.

Modern Family

“Why is she dressed like the Hamburglar?” — Mitchell, about his baby Lily

“I’ll tell you what’s weird. Our son is not weird. What’s weird is that her kid wears aftershave and dresses like a count.” — Claire, about Manny

“It’s not just the game. It’s the bands, and the drama and the pageantry.” — Mitchell
“Don’t forget about the team mascots.” — Cameron
“They wear ascots?” — Mitchell
“No, mascots, with an ‘m.’ That could have been very embarrassing.” — Cameron

“Claire likes to say you can be part of the problem or part of the solution. I happen to believe that you can be both.” — Phil

House

“He’s just agreeing with you because he wants to have sex with you. By the way, I agree with you too — especially in those pants.” — House to Cameron

“Can I tell you something? I wasn’t picking lint out of my belly button.”– House to Wilson

“You want to take this case because he’s another sad puppy. You should have been a vet.” — House to Cameron

“You do make me feel funny.” — House to Cuddy

“That’s not hate, it’s foreplay.” — intern to intern, about Cuddy and House

Community

“I think if you said ‘jump,’ he’d say ‘how high’. I think if you said ’stop’ he’d say ‘Hammertime.’” — Dean Pelton

Parks and Recreation

“Mark, I am so sick of moving like a slug. I want to move like a cheetah. Or a slug driving a remote controlled car. Well, maybe something more plausible than that, but fast.” — Leslie

Greek

“Someone without a college degree shouldn’t be so choosy.” — Dale to Lana

“Hi. Um, I have a friend of mine I’d like to introduce you to; his name’s Jesus. And he pays much greater dividends than those dollar bills in your underpants.” — Dale to a stripper

“Jesus knows how to party; dude makes his own wine.” — Dale to a KTer

“You know, some people appreciate my sense of humor.” — Evan
“Some people appreciate Crocs.” — Ashleigh

Glee

“I will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. And then on some dark cold night, I’ll steal away into your home and punch you in the face.” — Sue to Will

“I can’t do this.” — Rachel
“Why? We’re a couple of good-lookin’ Jews. It’s natural.” — Puck
“I can’t give myself to someone who isn’t brave enough to sing a solo. If you don’t have the guts to do that, how are you gonna be able to deal with the ups and downs of loving an admittedly high maintenance girl like me?” — Rachel
“Are you questioning my badassness? Have you seen my guns?” — Puck

“Know what the worst part is? It’s not the burning in your eyes or how the slushee drips into your underpants. It’s the humiliation.” — Puck

The Middle

“So, this Olivia, is she here right now?”– Mike to Brick when Brick announced that he was dating someone

“Great advice Axl; now I’m married, and we have a baby!” — Brick

“I’m not even sure if Rainbow Bright is mine.” — Brick

“Nobody ever has a record of Sue.” — Frankie

The Office

“That could have gone one of two ways. But I never expected her to get upset.” — Michael about Pam

“I am your boss, and I may someday be your father.” — Michael to Pam

“Did you really think I would put my primary listening device in a wooden mallard? I’m not insane.” — Dwight, showing the camera his pen recorder

30 Rock

“After the elections I could have gotten any ambassadorship I wanted, even to the world’s gayest country — Ireland.” — Devon

“In three days the headlines will read, ‘Jack Donaghy saves GE, comma, marries your mom.’” — Jack

“A book hasn’t caused me this much trouble since Where’s Waldo went to that barber pole factory!” — Tracy

“This isn’t the auto industry, Pete. The auto industry was run by a bunch of out-of-touch white guys selling consumers a product they didn’t want. We’re GE damn it, and we’re going to make a giant, flimsy microwave!” — Jack

The Venture Bros

“I can cross ’stab Hitler to death’ off my list of cool crap I thought I’d never do.” — Brock Samson

How I Met Your Mother

“OK, that’s it. [stands up on top of chair] Attention, Canada. I’m Barney, from America, and I’m here to fix your backward-ass country. Number one, get real money. [shows Canadian dollar bill] Don’t know what board game this came from, but it’s a [in French accent] joke. Number two, and this is a biggie, quit letting awesome chicks like Robin Scherbatsky get away because you know what, you don’t want her, I’m planting my flag in her, if you know what I mean — which you probably don’t — and getting her the hell out of here. You may now return to being pointless.” — Barney

Big Bang Theory

“Did that guy just say, ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold,’ in Klingon?” — Wil Wheaton
“I believe so.” — Stuart
“What is wrong with him?” — Wil
“Everyone has a different theory.” — Stuart

“I came here to defeat Wil Wheaton, the man who destroyed my dream, but I can’t defeat Wil Wheaton, the man who loved his memaw. [plays his card] Enchanted Bunny.” — Sheldon
“NOOOO!!!!! Not Enchanted Bunny!” — Raj
“I call my memaw ‘Nana,’ and she going to be very happy to hear my small rock kills your Enchanted Bunny. Game over, Moon Pie.” — Wil
“I … I don’t understand. Your grandmother’s alive?” — Sheldon
“You catch on quick. Come on, Stewie, let’s get our prize money.” — Wil

Photo Credit: CBS

30 Rock – Jack Donaghy marries your mom

Bob Degon — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:30:11 +0000

The second episode of this season of 30 Rock belonged to one man, and one man alone: Jack Donaghy. Sure, the rest of the cast was featured and were up to their normal level of quality, but this installment was really all about Jack. It helped that his arch nemesis Devon Banks returned to the show, always awesomely played by Will Arnett. I only wish the show had used him more. It felt a little bit like his appearance was wasted. Don’t get me wrong, he was great; I just wanted more.

I’ve known for quite some time that Jack was a rock star, but this episode cemented it for me, as he worked his magic as only he could do, in an attempt to avoid taking federal bailout money for GE. I loved that he slaved over a redesign of the microwave oven only to accidently reinvent the Pontiac Aztec, slowly but surely. First the one door was replaced by four small ones, wheel were added, and then the oven itself was replaced with an AM/FM radio. There just aren’t cleverer writers working on TV today.

Jack was even more killer than usual tonight, as he was able to save the company while dealing with the crazy problems around the set of TGS. Heck, the man even found Liz’s retainer in Washington, DC. What can’t he do?

Hopefully we will get to see more of Jack and Devon as the issue surrounding the bailout money for GE moves ahead. There is so much more to look forward to as well. I’m curious to find out if we’re going to see more of Jenna’s werewolf movie (ill-fatedly being shot in night-less Iceland), Liz’s book of deal breakers, or any more of Tracy’s porno based on Liz’s life (and written by Liz herself).

Here are some of my favorite quotes of the night:

“Lemon numbers among my employees.” – Jack’s blurb on Liz’s book

“A book hasn’t caused me this much trouble since “Where’s Waldo” went to that barber pole factory!” – Tracy

“I’ll make this company profitable so fast, the only headline will be ‘Donaghy saves GE comma marries your mom.’” – Jack to Devin

Photo Credit: NBC

Ratings Clack – Where is FlashForward headed?

Brett Love — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:00:41 +0000

FlashForward is one of the more interesting shows of the new season where ratings are concerned. On the one hand, so far it has been a huge upgrade for the 8-9 spot on ABC. And while it has been surpassed by Survivor, it does continue to hold off Bones in the demo. On the other hand, the ratings don’t seem to be settled yet, which makes each week a new adventure. This week, the yo-yo headed back up. What will next week bring? One can only guess. I continue to think that it will eventually be passed up by the fiercely loyal Bones audience at some point, finding its place as the number 3 show in the hour. Elsewhere this week, there was good news for Dancing With The Stars, NCIS, Law & Order, So You Think You Can Dance, and Smallville. The news wasn’t so good for Hank, Parks & Recreation, Three Rivers, or Melrose Place.

ABC - Overall, it was a very good week for the network. Sunday was off a bit week-to-week with Extreme Makeover (9.81m/3), Desperate Housewives (13.42m/3.6), and Brothers & Sisters (8.97m/3), but those are still solid numbers. And there were plenty of gains through the rest of the week. Monday, Dancing With The Stars (16.79m/3.6) and Castle (9.77m/2.3) were both up. Tuesday was also up for the night with Shark Tank (5.24m/1.6), DWTS (13.96m/2.9) and The Forgotten (7.43m/2.1). The Forgotten was down in viewers, but up in demo. Wednesday was a bit of a mixed bag with Modern Family (9.35m/3.6) and Cougar Town (7.99m/3.3) both up, while Hank (6.15m/1.6), The Middle (6.77m/2.1), and Eastwick (5.08m/1.7) were all down.

In a bit of oddness, Thursday found FlashForward (9.07m/3.1) and Private Practice (10.36m/3.8) both posting gains while Grey’s Anatomy (13.79m/5) took a bit of a dip. Still, that’s a dip that still left it #1 in the demo for the night. Friday was also up with the premiere of Ugly Betty (5.01m/1.3 – 5.18m/1.3). Of course, that’s well off last season’s Ugly Betty numbers, and up over repeats. I’ve no idea what ABC is expecting from Ugly Betty on the night, but the increased competition should be worrisome for FOX.

CBS - The Tiffany network also had a good week, starting with The Amazing Race (10.52m/3.2). Unfortunately, Phil’s gains didn’t do much for Three Rivers (7.33m/1.7) and Cold Case (7.87m/1.9). Both of those should be considered on the bubble at this point. That was just a temporary setback though, as business picked back up Monday. How I Met Your Mother (8.56m/3.6), Accidentally On Purpose (7.73m/3), 2 ½ Men (14.17m/4.8), and Big Bang Theory (13.07m/5) all bounced back from an off week, gaining in viewers and demo. CSI: Miami (13.27m/4) was off just a bit in viewers, but also up in viewers. That 8-9 hour of comedy continues to be interesting. In moving Big Bang to 9:30, the 8-9 hour is down 1.1 million viewers and 4 tenths in the demo versus last year (Big Bang 9.36m/3.6, HIMYM 9.14m/3.8). Although, to be fair, the 9-10 hour is up 1.4 million viewers and .6 in the demo (2 ½ Men 14.57m/5.3, Worst Week 9.78m/3.3).

Moving on, NCIS (21.04m/4.5) continues to roll. Despite that being up, NCIS:LA (15.38m/3.5) and The Good Wife (12.98m/2.8) were both off week-to-week. The good news though is that they both remain up over last year (Mentalist 14.86m/3.4, Without A Trace 10.99m/2.6). Wednesday also saw gains with Old Christine (6.99m/2.1), Gary Unmarried (6.91m/2.3), and CSI: NY (13.4m/3.2) up in both measurements. Criminal Minds (13.92m/3.8) was off slightly in viewers, but also gained demo.

Thursday saw week-to-week gains across the board with Survivor (11.78m/3.5), CSI (15.38m/3.6), and The Mentalist (15.08m/3.5). It’s interesting to note that The Mentalist is so close to becoming the #1 show for the network on the night. Friday, as usual, was an easy win with Ghost Whisperer (8.21m/2), Medium (8.04m/1.9), and Numb3rs (7.77m/1.8) all holding up well against baseball.

FOX - A bit of a mixed bag of results in a week that was still very good. The Sunday toons, The Simpsons (7.6m/3.7), Cleveland Show (7.87m/3.9), Family Guy (8.97m/4.6), and American Dad (6.75m/3.5) were all down, but still very strong. It’s worth noting that Cleveland is building on the Simpsons audience. Monday was also down, with House (13.49m/5.2) and Lie To Me (7.87m/2.8). Not a worry for House, the #1 demo of the night, but Lie To Me should be better. Tuesday was a great result as Hell’s Kitchen (8.04m/3.8) continues to hold up amazingly well.

The really interesting bit of the week came on Wednesday. So You Think You Can Dance (7.21m/2.8) continues to grow now that the weeks (and weeks) of auditions are over. It’s now #1 in the demo for the hour. That led to a slight boost for Glee (7.65m/3.4) as well. Thursday was more of the same, with Bones (9.59m/2.8) on par, and Fringe (5.78m/2.2) continuing to struggle in the 9PM meat grinder. Friday was way up over the usual schedule with baseball. Sports are iffy for numbers, but the early results say something in the neighborhood of 7.54 million viewers and a 2.4 for the night.

NBC - How NBC did this week really depends on your glass. Is it half full, or half empty? For example, the entire Monday lineup was up in viewers and demo. But then, when you come up to numbers like Heroes (5.55m/2.4), Trauma (5.49m/1.8), and Leno (5.09m/1.6), it’s hard to really celebrate. There were similar results for Mercy (7.37m/1.9), which was up in the demo. As well as Community (5.01m/2) which gained in both over last week. The only really bad news probably comes from Parks & Recreation (4.53m/2). To give an idea of how bad that is, last year at this time Kath & Kim knocked down 6.01 million viewers and a 2.5.

There was good news to be had. As usual, Sunday Night Football (16.02m/6.2) remains a power. The Biggest Loser (9.14m/3.5) was also rather steady. The Office (8.03m/4.1) was down from the big wedding episode, but remains the best rated scripted program on the network. 30 Rock (6.39m/3), given the demo, also had a successful debut. There was also some good news on the Law & Order front. Both SVU (8.77m/2.6) and L&O (7.6m/1.6) remain down year-to-year, but they are also both gaining. That’s a trend worth watching. It could be that as people tire of the new programming, they’ll return to the old standbys.

Leno, overall, had a rough week that ended with his worst showing yet on Friday. The only victory for Leno came on Wednesday, as the show was #2, edging out Eastwick. The numbers:

Monday (5.09m/1.6)
Tuesday (5.77m/1.8)
Wednesday (6.15m/1.8)
Thursday (5.37m/1.8)
Friday (4.97m/1.2)

CW - Count the littlest network as also having a good week. One Tree Hill (2.55m/1.2), Gossip Girl (2.36m/1.2), Vampire Diaries (3.88m/1.8), Supernatural (2.58m/1.2), and Smallville (2.62m/1.1) were all up over last week. 90210 (2.25m/1.1) was off a tenth in demo, but gained viewers. Next Top Model (3m/1.4) was off over the previous week, but remains the #2 show on the network. The only really bad news continues to be Melrose Place (1.38m/.7) which has now fallen well off the pace of Privileged last season.

CABLE - The most intriguing number for me on cable this week was Nip/Tuck (2.92m/1.4). That’s not a bad number, but it’s more interesting in showing just how successful FX is with Sons Of Anarchy (3.31m/1.8). It looks like SAMCRO will be around for awhile. Let’s just hope the writer’s get this whole Oz fascination out of their system sooner, rather than later. Some other cable numbers of note:

Mad Men (1.53m/.6)
Army Wives (3.93m/1.3)
Monday Night Football (13.14m/5.4)
Top Chef (2.67m/1.4)
South Park (2.56m/1.3)
Secret Girlfriend (1.25m/.6)
It’s Always Sunny (1.61m/1)
Project Runway (2.97m/1.3)
Mythbusters (2.69m/1.2)
The Hills (1.72m/1)
Ghost Hunters (2.91m/1.3)
Real Housewives of Atlanta (2.64m/1.4)
Greek (.66m/.3)

Photo Credit: ABC

Quotation Marks – Dockers, Tab-booty calls, and the letter R

Ivey West — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:03:16 +0000

Glee

[while hugging]
“I will destroy you.” – Will
“I’m about to vomit down your back.” – Coach Sylvestser
“It’s on.” – Will

“The independent polling company in my Dockers has confirmed that you’re the hottest girl in this school.” – Jacob

Community

“The only difference between Senor Chang and Stalin is that I know who Senor Chang is.” – Troy

Parks and Recreation

“That’s why people respect Hillary Clinton so much, because no one takes a punch like her. She’s the strongest, smartest punching bag around.” – Leslie

The Office

“Jim’s on his honeymoon, so I started using his office to fart in.” – Kevin

“R is among the most menacing of sounds. That’s why they call it murder and not mukduk.” – Dwight

30 Rock

“To TGS! We’ll trick those race-car-loving wide loads into watching your lefty, homoerotic propaganda hour yet!” – Jack

“I blame you and Dot Com; you two have built a protective shell around me like a hermit crab or mermaid booby, and now I’ve lost touch with the common man!” – Tracy to Grizz

“Has anybody seen my wallet? It’s an L.L. Bean child’s wallet from the 1970s. There was no money in it, but I was one hole-punch away from a free tasty delight…. Damn it to hell, I hate my life!” – Liz

“Hey dudes, I’m organizing a viral protest on Tweeter and Youtubes.” – Lenny Wozniak, undercover at the Page strike.

Greek

“Comic Conventions are crawling with hotties, everybody knows that.” – Dale

“Dale Kettlewell is in a relationship with God.” – Dale’s new profile relationship status

NCIS

“What is blue, black, and red?” – Ziva
“Zebra in a blender.” – Tony
“That’s black, white, and red all over.” – McGee
“Newspaper.” – Tony
“Penguin with a sunburn.” – McGee
“Nun falling down stairs.” – Tony

The Middle

“That’s why we taught you to walk.” – Mike’s response to Axl on what he’s to do if he doesn’t get his license for lack of practice

“Don’t do anything sexual; boys hate that.” – Mike to Sue, on attracting boys

Modern Family

“During my vows to my first husband, drug dealers burst in and assassinated the judge. This was way worse.” – Gloria, on “The Incident”

“I’m about to embark on a new journey.” – Dede
“Really?” – Mitchell
“His name is Chaz, and he’s asked me to come live with him in his foreign land.” – Dede
“Wow, where?” – Mitchell
“Canada. French Canada.” – Dede

“There’s a fish that swims around with babies in its mouth. That fish would look at Mitchell’s relationship with his mother and say, ‘that’s messed up.’” – Cameron

“The first time I saw Hailey, I knew I liked her. I mean, she’s beautiful and everything, but it’s not just that. She’s got this killer confidence, you know, the kind of confidence you get from having a family like this that’s passionate and accepting of hot foreigners, and gay dudes, and nutty people. You know, a family that actually loves each other.” – Dylan

How I Met Your Mother

“One thing. Really? You gave me one thing? Wow, so I guess that Gouda just walked itself right through that door, sliced itself up, and arranged itself in the perfect semi-circle around not three, not four, but five different kinds of sturdy, cheese-bearing crackers?” – Marshall
“You’re a sturdy, cheese-bearing cracker” – Lily

“Hey, remember that weird couple down the hall? With the ferrets? Maybe we can give them a call and see if they want to come over and play Taboo.” – Barney
“After midnight? No way, we can’t Tab-booty call them. That’s pathetic.” – Robin

Dancing With The Stars

“Your dancing is like the economy. Every week you are supposed to be getting better, but nothing happens.” – Bruno Tonioli, on Michael Irvin’s performance

Photo Credit: FOX

Four reasons that I’m thrilled to have 30 Rock back

Bob Degon — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:30:27 +0000

I’m still not entirely sure why NBC likes to push 30 Rock back until October, as they have done every year. I’m not sure if it’s a case of “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” or if I just love 30 Rock as much as I think I do, but I sure was excited to see the show back on the air tonight.

I thought the first outing this season was a strong return to the program, with a nice balance of all the characters. You had Tracy being crazy, Liz being awkward, Jenna being self centered, Jack being republican, and Kenneth being innocent. It’s everything that we love about 30 Rock!

As I was watching tonight’s episode, I realized that there are a few things that 30 Rock does extremely well that I think helps them to stand apart from the crowd.

In-jokes: I loved that the characters consistently cut down Josh, forgetting about his existence. It’s particularly funny because Josh was mostly absent through the entire previous season of the show, and I, for one, took a really long time to notice that he was missing. I wonder if he’s really gone for good after quitting.
The great set-ups: 30 Rock always has great references late in the episode to something set up early in the evening. Tonight it was the “cheesy blasters” (which caused Liz to get a bad case of the “cheesy blasters”) and Tracy’s previous career as a bucket drummer.
Topical humor: 30 Rock is great at tackling the issues of the day. It’s right up there with South Park, in my opinion. It’s a double-edged sword, however. It makes the episodes particularly funny upon first viewing, but I wonder if the show is going to be dated and much less effective when revisited on DVD in a few years from now? This episode tackled “Comrade Obama’s recession” and executive bonuses in a very clever way.
Funny guest stars: I know that last season 30 Rock went a little over board with the guest stars, but for the most part, I think they do a great job getting very funny guests and working them into the episodes. Tonight’s episode featured frequent guest Steve Buscemi in another turn as moderately crappy private investigator Lenny Wosniak.

Some choice quotes from the premiere:

“Have I lost touch with my roots? I better talk to Rabbi Schmuli about this.” – Tracy

“To TGS! We’ll trick those race car loving wide loads into watching your lefty homoerotic propaganda hour yet!” – Jack

“I blame you and Dot Com, you two have built a protective shell around me like a hermit crab or mermaid booby, and now I’ve lost touch with the common man!” – Tracy to Grizz

“Are you a pre-op transcentaur?” – Tracy to a random guy on the street

“I would like some chicken nuggets, a beer, and some of my wife’s rice to stay!” – Tracy, trying to order from a hot dog cart

“Has anybody seen my wallet? It’s an L.L. Bean child’s wallet from the 1970s. There was no money in it, but I was one hole punch away from a free tasty delight… Damn it to hell, I hate my life!” – Liz

“Hey dudes, I’m organizing a viral protest on Tweeter and YouTubes.” – Lenny Wozniak, undercover at the page strike.

What did you think 30 Rock’s big return?

Photo Credit: NBC

Wherefore art thou, Liz Lemon?

Julia Hass — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:00:23 +0000

It should come as a surprise to approximately no one that I, above all else, positively worship Tina Fey. That woman is a comedy genius, and 30 Rock brings a light to my life that is only rivaled by puppies and newborn babies.

So why does NBC insist on holding out this show on me every year?

Look, I understand that 30 Rock has pretty low numbers, ratings-wise, but I absolutely fail to understand how starting the season later helps matters. Wouldn’t it stand to reason that people want things to start all around the same time? I can’t help but think that the late starts are actually hurting 30 Rock in the long run — people look at a late-starting show and go “oh, I don’t need another thing to start watching” once their schedule is made. Meanwhile, long-time fans like me often miss the premiere by accident or go crazy waiting.

Besides, what they offer me as an alternative is just plain insulting. Saturday Night Live? How’s that supposed to make me feel better? If I found that funny, which I don’t, I’d watch that on Saturday, thank you very much. Why would I tune into you when I have the far superior Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert making fun of the news? And how many viewers are you losing by them thinking that this SNL malarky is going to continue all season?

It’s simple, NBC. You’ve got gold when it comes to 30 Rock, so exploit it. Pimp it out. Make it easy for people to to catch up with. Don’t go holding out the premiere on us until some random week in October every year. There’s an old saying — don’t build a village around the village idiot. If the general public isn’t cool enough to latch on to how awesome 30 Rock is, don’t sweat it. You’ve still got a viewing public and critical mass that loves you, and your eight bazillion Emmys are proof of that. We aren’t your village idiots. We are your village of awesome people.

Now if you’ll excuse me, that rant took a lot out of me, and I’m going to have to re-fuel. Sabor de Soledad, anyone?

Photo Credit: NBC

TV on DVD for September 22nd

Brett Love — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:04 +0000

There are so many shows premiering this week that no work is getting done down at the DVD factory. At least, that’s my theory. How else do you explain the shortened list of releases this week? Despite that, there are still a few big ones to take notice of: 30 Rock, Castle, The Mentalist, Terminator, Ghost Whisperer, Ugly Betty, and SVU are representing the big networks. From cable, we have Brotherhood, SpongeBob, and 6Teen. And the week is rounded out by some classics, including Star Trek, Taxi, and Friday The 13th: The Series. The full list is after the jump.

30 Rock: Season 3 – It keeps winning all those awards, so it must be good, right?
Castle: The Complete 1st Season – With this set, and a time machine, you can catch up before the season two premiere that was on yesterday. (Come on, networks!) Stay tuned for our review of this set soon.
The Mentalist: Season 1 – The breakout hit of last season. (No, it wasn’t Fringe)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete 2nd Season – I would have been okay with the cancellation, if it hadn’t been replaced with Brothers and ‘Til Death. That’s just cold.
Ghost Whisperer: The Complete 4th Season – Two of my favorite things about TV.
Ugly Betty: The Complete 3rd Season – Much more magazine mayhem.
Law & Order SVU: The 10th Year – Like the bunny, L&O just keeps going, and going….
Brotherhood: The Final Season – Unfortunately, this one started before the Nekkid Billie Piper Show ended my Showtime boycott, so I have no idea. I’ve heard good things.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes (Seasons 1-5) – In case you missed it.
Star Trek: Season 2 Blu-ray – Boldly going to HD.
Friday the 13th The Series: The 3rd and Final Season – A long-time favorite of mine.
Taxi: The Complete 4th Season- I expect buying this will have some sort of heating effect on @Danny_Devito’s balls.
The Mr. Men Show: Little Miss Sunshine Presents: Fun in the Sun! and Tickle Time Around Town! – And finally, something for the kiddos.

Photo Credit: NBC

Fall 2009 pre-season predictions: Thursday

Brett Love — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:00:27 +0000

Good grief … Thursdays are going to be tough on viewers. I don’t know about your schedule, but it looks like I’m going to have to find time to watch 7½ hours of television Thursday night. At least, initially. As for the ratings game, there are a number of interesting new additions to the night. The big questions I see: Is FlashForward more toward the Lost side of the scale, or The Nine side? Is Community an upgrade from My Name Is Earl? And what will happen when Fringe doesn’t have the Idol juggernaut opening the night?

Thursday
	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
ABC	FlashForward		Grey’s Anatomy		Private Practice
NBC	Community	Parks & Rec	The Office	30 Rock	Jay Leno
CBS	Survivor		CSI		The Mentalist
FOX	Bones		Fringe
CW	Vampire Diaries		Supernatural

Kicking things off at 8:00, I’ve purposely ignored the series of SNL: Weekend Update specials that will start the season. It’s not really the regular programming, and Community is the better story. That said, it’s worth noting for the simple fact that NBC has done a smart thing in letting Community open the season behind The Office, before moving to 8:00 to lead off the night. That will offer up a lot more exposure for those first few episodes. Will it make a hit? Not really. The pilot has been well received, and it does fit in well with the NBC comedy block. But given the competition, and the style of Community, it’s not going to be a breakout phenomenon. I think it will still do well enough, bettering the numbers that Earl was bringing to the network. A better lead-in won’t hurt Parks & Recreation, either, but then without something drastic changing, I don’t see that one picking up much at all either way. It’s just not that good.

That will likely land NBC in fourth for the hour, but those top three positions are a tougher call. If you want to go with the history, Survivor is still the front-runner. Even after all these years, the show is capable of getting 12 million viewers and a 3.5 demo. Bones brought new life to Thursdays for FOX, but three million viewers, and a point in the demo is a lot of ground to make up. I do expect it to get closer, but it’s not ready to topple Survivor just yet. The real question mark though, is FlashForward. ABC is really banking on this being the big hit show for the new season. I can’t help thinking of The Nine every time I hear about the idea of the flashes. And man, did that not pan out well last time.

The long con is always a tougher sell on TV, and this has all the makings of that. The producers have been proactive about promising that the first season is a complete story, and the questions asked in the pilot will be answered, etc. But come on now … we’ve heard that before. It’s the kind of stuff that chases a certain segment of viewers away, and I think it’s what keeps FlashForward from challenging Survivor. With all the promotion though, and good early buzz, the battle for second with Bones could be very interesting.

At 9:00, they’re at it again. Grey’s Anatomy and CSI will once again square off to see which is the number one show for the night. In recent history, CSI has held the edge in viewers, with Grey’s taking the lead in the demo. The tide started to swing with the departure of Grissom, though. The end of last season was not kind to the CSI numbers, opening the door for Grey’s to take the night outright this season. CBS has announced their plan to right the ship, which involves updating Dr. Langston’s (Laurence Fishburne) wardrobe…. Seriously, I don’t think the new duds are going to be much help, but planned absences for Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) could factor in. At the end of the day, Grey’s wins the night, with CSI second.

Although … that could just be second in viewers, depending on how much the demo drops for CSI. It’s actually possible that we could see CSI fall as far as fourth in the demo. The Office was beating CSI regularly last season, but the drop for 30 Rock usually pulled NBC to third for the hour. If 30 Rock can make any gains — and it’s entirely possible given all the good press that show gets — NBC could finally get over the hump against CSI, possibly bringing the first (very early) signs of the end of the franchise.

But then there’s Fringe. The numbers from last season would be good enough to lock the show in at second place in the demo. So the question becomes, how much are they going to drop now that Idol isn’t in front of the show? My best guess is Fringe averaging 8 million viewers and just over a 3 demo. That should give it a few more viewers than the NBC hour, and a little less demo. It will be a noticeable drop for the show. The good news though, is that it will still be a success for FOX. With that, Bones and Fringe will now be a solid Thursday night for the network. Something it hasn’t had in a very long time.

At 10:00, it’s another win for CBS. The interesting battle isn’t Private Practice vs. The Mentalist. It’s The Mentalist vs. CSI. Given the numbers the show was turning in last season, The Mentalist could actually do better than CSI on the night. And here’s a thought: Crazy as it seems after so many years with CSI as the big Thursday hit, if that pans out, the smart move might be flipping the two shows. Private Practice should continue to do well after Grey’s, as ABC has finally found a pairing that works for viewers. But The Mentalist will take the hour. And this is one night where Leno has no shot at anything other than a last place finish.

Finally, our old friends at The CW are doing something rather odd on Thursday. They’re breaking up what was easily the network’s most consistent night last season. Despite all the ridiculous competition, Smallville and Supernatural continued to grind out solid numbers all season. I find the moving of Smallville very odd, indeed. And I have to say it looks like a downgrade for the night.

Naturally, we’ll have to wait to see how the show pans out, but Vampire Diaries feels tired to me already. They are just too late to the game with their vampire entry. It won’t measure up to the Smallville numbers from last season. Fortunately for Kripke and the crew at Supernatural, their fans are hardcore. A change in lead-in isn’t going to mean much to Supernatural. It will continue to do its thing, with or without Clark’s help.

Photo Credit: NBC

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